Given the Chance
by blindedbyheadlights
Summary: It's funny how when people's lives are in danger...someone will do the strangest things to save them. So...maybe her agreeing to an arranged marriage to keep him alive wasn't so bad.


**Credits to Broccoli who has created the game series and the anime. ^_^ I own my plot and OCs**

**Author's note: Hey guys. Please enjoy my fanfiction for UtaPri. Hopefully people will like. I know people have a lot of previous dispositions to OC characters, and trouble with believing they're all Mary-Sues. I hope that you guys won't see it this way. ^_^ I've left the summary vague, but that was my intention.**

**Please enjoy it! I welcome all types of reviews, including flamers (though I prefer you don't). Have fun!**

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><p>Chapter One: The Letter<p>

It was relatively quiet in the streets of the mid afternoon. Not many people were roaming Kumiyama of the Kyoto prefecture at this hour…which was surprising because it was very early April, and kids were still on break from school. There temperature was at a perfect seventy-two degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

It was this time of the year that the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, giving Kumiyama a beautiful, scenic touch to the rather suburb looking area.

There was a rhythmic pounding of some sort, which was distant at first. It was indistinguishable in direction for the first ten seconds after it appeared, but it steadily grew louder with each passing second and was coming from around the corner.

The noise belonged to a pair of feet, running at top speed down the streets in the housing section of the town.

Kasumi panted lightly, clutching the grocery bag full of items her mother had sent her to get, her brown hair flowing behind her in her hurry. She dashed across the street, nearly getting hit by a car that wasn't paying attention.

"Watch where you're going!" she shouted over her shoulder, still running as fast as her feet would carry her.

"_Don__'__t __get __yourself __killed!__" _yelled a voice from her phone, which was on speaker because she couldn't hold it to her ear.

Kasumi laughed. "That wasn't my fault!" she replied.

"_Yeah, yeah, are you home yet!"_

"Almost!" she exclaimed, seeing her house up ahead and pressing her pace a little more. "Don't open yours without me!"

"_I__'__m__ not!__" _snapped the male's voice, one so unique she was sure she hadn't heard anyone have a similar voice in her life, on the other side of the line. _"__Hurry__ up! __I __can__'__t __wait __much __longer!__"_

"You _better_ wait for me, Syo Kurusu, or I will kick your ass!" she half shouted, causing an elderly man in the front of his yard to turn to stare at her. Kasumi grinned sheepishly as she sprinted past him. "Two minutes, that's all I'm asking!"

"_You__ kill __me,__" _Syo sighed irritably. _"__Just __come __in __when __you __get__ here.__"_

"Fine, fine," Kasumi replied and she heard a soft click, signifying that her best friend just hung up the phone.

Kasumi skidded to a stop just outside her house, completely unaware of the luxury car sitting on the street in front of her. It was entirely out of place in a normal, average neighborhood like this but Kasumi had her mind set on something else to notice it. In fact, she probably wouldn't have noticed if a commercial airliner had been parked in front of her house with how distracted she was.

She dashed up to her door, reaching for the handle when it flew open. Kasumi was quick enough to jump out of its way, as it missed her face by an inch. She lifted up her amber colored eyes crossly to see who was leaving her house with such force.

Kasumi's face darkened a shade and a half, despite her surprise, at who was staring down at her with piercing blue eyes.

"Hi-Hijirikawa!" she said with astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

Masato Hijirikawa.

Kasumi knew this strange boy, who stood a little over a half a foot taller than her and with his formally cut blue hair, intense gaze, and the small beauty mark just under his right eye for as long as she could remember. Her father, who worked as an advisor and translator for the Hijirikawa financial group, was on highly good terms with the CEO/owner…which happened to be Masato's father.

"My father is here on business," replied Masato flatly, his face void of emotion. He stepped past her and made for the car that was waiting for him by the sidewalk.

Kasumi rolled her eyes discretely but smiled slightly to herself. Masato was as rigid as ever; even his eyes were languid when he had looked at her.

Despite having known him since she was a child, she wouldn't exactly call him her friend. More like…forced acquaintances.

When she was younger, she had been regularly required to attend play dates with Masato, as well as take piano lessons together. Talking to Masato, even from an early age, was like talking to a wall the majority of the time…a very boring wall. She had tried everything to get him to have fun with her…but he wouldn't have it and thus, they had little to no friendship.

Well…that's not all necessarily true.

They had been friends…_once_. That was up until she was about seven or so. When they were small, Masato hadn't been so serious about everything and he knew how to laugh. Those were the days when Kasumi called him by his given name…and not his surname. She actually had always been excited when her father would take her to the Hijirikawa estate so they could play together. She and Masato would sit in front of his grand piano in his room for hours making up songs and singing them around the garden.

But…for whatever reason, Masato arbitrarily decided he no longer wanted to be friends with her…and since then, he's been rather distant and cold. Kasumi had tried to mend the relationship as best as a small child could but…she eventually gave up. These days, she was just cordial with him, because he was, after all, the son of her father's superior. It was only out of respect.

"Hm…" said Kasumi thoughtfully as Masato leaned up against the black sedan, clearly waiting for something. Then she remembered Syo and what they had been talking about.

_Crap! __He__'__s__ gonna __kill __me_, she thought, her expression slipping into dread.

Without a backwards glance at the ever-serious boy that is Masato, she ran into the house with her groceries, but first having wrenched off her shoes.

In the dining room, she could hear low voices, signaling her and Masato's father talking and trying to keep it rather secretive. She brushed it off, knowing it was confidential stuff about the financial group, as she hurried into the kitchen.

Kasumi practically threw the bag onto the kitchen counter and saw the pile of mail she was looking for. Quickly she searched through it.

_C__'__mon,__ c__'__mon__…__where __is __it!__ Syo __got __his__…_she thought basically tossing the rest of the mail over her shoulder or to the side since it was unimportant to her.

And then she saw it.

It was a medium sized, off-white envelope with the crest of Saotome Gakuen stamped in the corner. It was addressed to her. The adrenaline that accompanied the sight of the mark sent her into a fit of fidgeting.

She practically almost tore it open then and there but Syo and her promised they would open the letters together. Kasumi immediately turned on her heel to leave but a voice halted her.

"Oh, Kasu-chan!" said her mother, who was behind her daughter who had frozen on the spot. "Thank you for getting the fish for me."

"Yeah, no big deal, mom!" her daughter replied, flashing her bright smile and inching away towards the exit of the kitchen.

"The Hijirikawas are here," said her mother idly as she was pulling out the fish from the bag. "Have you said hello to Masato yet…?"

She didn't see Kasumi roll her eyes.

Kasumi had been waiting for that. Her mother, Reiko, had always thought that her daughter would be perfect for the Hijirikawa's only son. Though her mother never outright said that she believed this, her actions and other words were telling enough for her daughter to realize that Reiko would gladly force them on each other, given the chance. But that would never happen anyway, thankfully.

The Hijirikawas were very wealthy with prestige and good heritage. Kasumi's family…was nothing of the sort…so it just would never happen.

"I wouldn't call it much of a greeting…" Kasumi said under her breath.

"What?"

"Ah! Yes, of course I did," she replied a little more loudly, still trying to leave. She felt her pocket vibrate and she discretely checked her phone as her mother rambled on about how the Hijirikawa's had arbitrarily stopped by to discuss some business with her father.

_WHERE ARE YOU! YOU SAID TWO MINUTES! IT'S BEEN THREE!_

Syo clearly was getting impatient, and that was understandable because she was going to jump out of her skin as well. In all honesty, she was surprised her parents hadn't seen the letter from Saotome Gakuen in the mail, seeing that they were expecting it to arrive for the last week. Then again, the Hijirikawa's random appearance at their house was enough to distract anyone.

"Well, that's _lovely_, mom," cut in Kasumi over her mother with another smile once she replied to Syo that she was on her way, "but I'll be right back. I have to take care of something _real_ quick."

Her mother scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Where are you going?" she called as her daughter started hurrying away. She was not very keen on the idea of letting her daughter leave when the Hijirikawas were there.

"Syo's house!" Kasumi shouted back. "I'll be back in like, a half hour. I promise!"

She didn't even wait for approval, because she knew her mother wouldn't let her if Kasumi gave her the option, and dashed back down the hall, shoving her shoes on quickly.

"Running off to see your _boyfriend_…?" sneered a dark voice down the hall on her right. Kasumi fell over in shock at the statement and found her younger brother, Kichiro, standing over her with a vague look of disgust in his hazel eyes.

She twitched, involuntarily feeling irritated with him before standing up. "Look here, runt," she said, gripping the front of Kichiro's shirt and pulling him towards her slightly. "Syo is _not _my boyfriend. How many times do I gotta tell you that?"

"Oh right," he sighed apathetically. "He looks so much like a girl. I should've said girlfriend."

Kasumi bit on her tongue to remain quiet.

She actually adored Kichiro to death…but he liked to pick on his older sister about everything and anything, and especially anything pertaining to Syo. Kasumi didn't mind, knowing that this was the only way he could show his affection to her because she knew that Kichiro actually looked up to her heavily.

Kichiro didn't know that she knew this, however, since their mother had let Kasumi read a paper he had written for school about who he idolizes. He had written that he idolizes his older sister because she always tried her best and was helping others…and he wanted to be like that. Apparently, Kichiro told their mother not to tell Kasumi because he didn't want her to act any differently around him.

She smiled to herself at the thought and released his shirt.

"Bye, brat," she said, patting him on the head He made a noise of irritation at the gesture before Kasumi turned away back towards the door, feeling her phone vibrate again. She pushed open the door and in her haste, ran headlong into Masato's chest.

Kasumi fell to the floor in the middle of the doorway to her house, causing Kichiro to bust up laughing at her sprawled out in her embarrassing position.

_I__'__m__ not __sure __which __one __I__ want __to__ strangle __more__…__Hijirikawa __or __Kichiro,_she thought irritably.

"What are you trying to kill me?" Kasumi growled but not out of real contempt for him.

"You should slow down, Kasumi-san," advised Masato seriously, while ignoring her comment. Kichiro continued to laugh all the way back to his room.

"And _you_ should probably not stand in front of doorways like that," she shot back, though her tone lacked acidity.

Masato squat down, ignoring the statement again, as Kasumi recollected herself. He picked up her envelope that she had dropped when she had fallen back and paused, noticing the crest of Saotome Gakuen stamped on it. Kasumi, however, didn't notice his slightly lingering hand, and he remained silent as he rose to a stand.

He offered her a hand, which Kasumi refused because she knew that he was only doing it out of obligation, and she stood up as well.

"Thanks," she said when he handed her letter back. "I have to go."

Kasumi quickly pushed past him, rolling her eyes when he was out of eyesight. Masato watched her for a second as she started sprinting down the street, before he went inside to see if his father was close to being finished here.

In her pocket, her phone vibrated incessantly as she was tearing across the sidewalk. Syo's house really wasn't that far, only at the end of the street.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm almost there!" she snapped as she flipped open her phone.

"_You__ said __that __five__ minutes __ago __and__ I__'__m__ still __waiting!__" _he shouted back just as Kasumi slowed down because she was at his house.

"I'm here, calm down!" she laughed as she pushed open the door to his house. Syo appeared in a second from the kitchen, his pink cell phone still pressed to his ear.

Syo was probably more fashionable that she was, dressed in his vest, tie, and fedora hat covering his white blonde hair. On multiple occasions, he had tried to dress Kasumi in a similar fashion…but she refused to let him, fearing he'd end up having too much fun.

"Took you long enough, jeeze!" he said with a lofty expression, his bright blue eyes narrowing at her somewhat playfully

She shot him a death glare, though not out of hostility. "The Hijirikawas are there…I couldn't get away fast enough…" she explained.

Syo's face dramatically softened, having heard enough of the Hijirikawas from her as it was. He never met them, of course, but Kasumi use to complain about the son all the time, whatever his name was…Syo couldn't remember.

"Doesn't matter!" he said, slightly teasing. "You took too long."

Kasumi laughed as Syo gripped her forearm and pulling her into the back part of the house. She knew the house like her own, especially since there were pictures of her hanging on the walls with Syo and his twin, Kaoru.

Speaking of Kaoru, he was sitting on his bed as Syo dragged Kasumi into their room. Syo's younger twin didn't look very pleased, and Kasumi could make a pretty educated guess as to why.

Either way, despite his bad mood, Kasumi tackled him, slamming him back into his bed. "Kaoru-kun!" she cried, squeezing him tight. "Don't look so angry. It's not a good look for your cute face."

It thankfully got a small laugh out of him. "Hi, Kasumi-chan," he replied, hugging her back.

"Kasumi!" snapped Syo from his side of the room. "You're getting distracted!"

"Oh my gosh, stop yelling at me," she laughed, sitting up from having attack hugged Kaoru.

She stood up and met Syo, whose black-nailed fingers were itching to tear open his own letter from Saotome Gakuen.

She had known Syo and Kaoru since she was about a year old, having been neighbors since they were born. They first met at the park down the street…and immediately the three of them were inseparable. They had done everything together.

When they were a little older…Syo developed a heart condition…one that put him in a bed-ridden state for the majority of the time. Some of the doctors didn't think he would live past twelve…but here he was, alive at sixteen, and though he still had his heart condition, he was still a pretty healthy kid. He just had to make sure he didn't get too excited about things otherwise his condition would flare up.

Syo always hated being stuck inside his room when they were kids, not being able to go outside and play. Sometimes…he use to cry and curse his body for being this way and it always wrenched at Kasumi's heart. At the time, Kasumi had been attending piano lessons with Masato…and she knew that Syo had always liked the violin, so she begged her parents to take lessons in violin as well so she could teach Syo how to play when he had to stay inside and rest.

Kaoru never approved of Syo's overly active personality because it would only stir up his heart condition. Even when he was _supposed_to be in bed, he usually was watching karate movies, ones with Ryuuya Hyuuga, his favorite action hero. Syo even taught himself karate.

He also liked to sing a lot. Kasumi always adored his rather unique sounding vocals and they would play violin and sing until Kaoru reprimanded them for "straining" Syo's heart.

Syo's violin skills eventually surpassed Kasumi's and if he was feeling healthy enough, they'd attend violin competitions together. Syo usually placed but Kasumi very rarely did. She didn't mind though…as long as her best friend was happy.

Kasumi and Syo made a pact the day he and Kaoru turned thirteen that they would attend the famous music academy, Saotome Gakuen. They decided it on their birthday because Syo lived past the age of twelve…so now he could pursue becoming a singer if he wanted.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was highly against the idea of his twin joining a singing academy, one that could really mess with Syo's heart. But Syo was tired of living in fear, as he told his twin more than once, and he wanted to live life fully…just in case he _does_die from his condition.

"Remember…no matter what," said Kasumi slowly, her fingers inching towards the sealed flap.

"That if one of us doesn't get in, we both don't go," finished Syo with a nod.

They held their breath and counted to three before they tore open their perspective letters. Syo was the first to have his open and his eyes dashed across the typed lines on the watermark paper.

It was silent for about a minute and they looked at each other in unison, both void of emotion.

"I got it!" they shouted together before promptly staring at each other in amazement. After a second of shock, Syo tackled Kasumi into a bear hug, his hat flying off his head, and into Kaoru behind them.

There was a lot of commotion, one involving Syo and Kasumi screaming in joy because they were accepted into the prestigious music academy of their dreams and Kaoru attempting to shout over them to calm down so Syo doesn't overexert his heart.

"What class did you get! I got into S class," Syo pressed, swiping her paper out of her hands before she could reply. "Blah, blah, blah…pleased to inform you that you have been accepted….blah, blah, blah…. You will be attending S Class in the composing course-"

He stopped reading and they both started up their yells of excitement all over again because they were going to be in the same class too.

"We're going to beat everyone with our songs!" shouted Syo, high-fiving Kasumi.

Abruptly, Syo's legs gave out and his hand flew the area of his heart. Syo made a noise of extreme discomfort as his hand clutched the front of his shirt, and his face scrunched into a look of pain.

"Syo!" cried Kaoru, bending down next to him. He threw a glare up at Kasumi, who was also looking at Syo with a heavily concerned expression. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

Syo finally breathed, his face relaxing. "It's not her fault, Kaoru…" he said as Kaoru helped his twin to the bed. "You can't blame her for my heart acting up."

Kasumi averted her eyes away from Kaoru's angry stare.

Kaoru…sort of blamed Kasumi for getting it in Syo's head that he could sing professionally if he really wanted to. Kaoru was one of Kasumi's closest friends…but she didn't think he was ever going to forgive her for the two of them making a pact to go to Saotome Gakuen together and trying to debut as singer as songwriter.

The previously excited mood had dropped dramatically but Syo was determined to not let it get him down.

"We have to try our hardest!" he said, clenching his fist, his eyes never losing his enthusiasm. "We're going to prove to the world we can make amazing music!"

Kasumi grinned and clenched her fist as well to mirror him. "Yes!"

After a few more minutes, Kasumi bade the Kurusu twins farewell and that she'd seem them tomorrow since she had to go.

The Hijirikawas were probably still at her house, so she dragged her leave until she could no longer drag it out anymore. Syo practically had to kick her out of his house just to get her to leave the doorway.

As she hurried back down the street, she couldn't help but smile at the cherry blossoms around her.

Kasumi was pumped for her life to start at the academy.


End file.
